Wednesday, July 10, 2013

They're created beings. The whole creation groans, awaiting the redemption of the sons of God. The angels fight in the spiritual dimension ("wield God's word, a weapon glorious...") to guard us from demonic forces.

Angels too, like the bunnies and the rocks and trees, will rejoice when Jesus returns and makes a new heaven and a new earth, and man is freed, and sin's effects are no more.

Tuesday, July 09, 2013

Once upon a time, I felt greedy and guilty when people would hand over STUFF when we happened to mention we needed something like it. Our parents were not the only culprits, but were the most frequent givers. "Wait, I wasn't asking for yours! I was just noticing that it's something I need to obtain somewhere." And yet, "No, it's fine. Here, take it. Really!"

But now I'm there. I want stuff out of the house. The kids see it on the pile headed to the flea market, and ask if I'd mind if they took it. MIND? No. No no no. Please take it and enjoy!

Monday, July 08, 2013

A lot of us middle-aged people learned about classical music more from Bugs Bunny than we did from school. Even without formal and systematic instruction, though, the simple exposure to music made those pieces seem comfortingly familiar when we bumped into them again. (Of course, we may imagine Elmer Fudd or Wile E Coyote when we hear certain pieces of music, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.)

I love what the headmaster of our church's school is doing with the kids. Simple simple simple. But an idea I wish I'd known about earlier. She has an assortment of great music pieces. I forget how many -- maybe 100 to 200? One piece per week. Play it every day.

That's it. There isn't necessarily any study of the composer's life, or his other music, or anything. There could be. But the point is simply for the kids to HEAR these pieces over and over. So it takes 3-5 minutes a day. It requires little prep from the teacher. But it does a lot to expose the kids to all sorts of important pieces of music.